Can Managerial Military Experience Affect Corporate Innovation? : Evidence from an Emerging Market

Lang, Xiangxiang,You, Dandan,Cui, Li,Peng, Zhe Institute of Management Research 2020 Journal of East Asia Management Vol.1 No.1

Military experience has a great impact on a soldier ability to handle risks. Therefore, when those soldiers become managers, they may behave differently in making risky corporate decisions, especially in activities like the R&D investment. However, studies on how military experience affect R&D have been largely missing in the largest emerging economy, i.e. China, despite that the country hires a higher percentage of military managers than the US. In addition, it remains a question whether military managers affect the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China, as many of the corporate decisions are made by the government. This paper tries to address these questions. The imprinting theory and the upper echelon theory suggest that managers' personal experience can affect their behaviour, which in turn influences their corporate decisions. In this paper, we examine whether managers with military experience lead to higher R&D investment and whether such an effect exists in state-owned enterprises. Based on a sample of listed firms in China's A-share market over 2008-2017, we make two findings. First, companies with military managers have high R&D investment. By dividing managers' military positions into high and low rank, we find that companies tend to have higher (lower) R&D investment if their managers hold a high-rank (low-rank) position. Second, the effect of high-rank military managers on R&D investment is more pronounced if the manager is also the founder and the company is a non-state-owned enterprise. For low-ranking military managers, a stronger effect on R&D investment is also observed if they are also the founder, but whether their companies are state-owned or not has no impact on R&D investment. This study identifies managers' military experience as a contributing factors to corporate R&D investment in the largest emerging economy. This paper tests an implication of the imprinting theory and the upper echelon theory, i.e., managers' personal experience can affect their behaviour, which in turn influences their corporate decisions. Specifically, we focus on one aspect of personal experience - military experience - and look at whether it is beneficial to firms' technological innovation, therefore enriches the literature of managerial heterogeneity. Our findings on the influence of managers' military experience on firms' technological innovation can help us better understand the role of managers play in corporate decision making, and how managers' individual traits interact with the firm's characteristics.

Long Noncoding RNA HEIH Promotes Colorectal Cancer Tumorigenesis via Counteracting miR-939Mediated Transcriptional Repression of Bcl-xL

Chunhui Cui,Duanyang Zhai,Lianxu Cai,Qiaobin Duan,Lang Xie,Jinlong Yu 대한암학회 2018 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.50 No.3

Purpose Studies have found that long noncoding RNA HEIH (lncRNA-HEIH) is upregulated and facilitates hepatocellular carcinoma tumor growth. However, its clinical significances, roles, and action mechanism in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unidentified. Materials and Methods lncRNA-HEIH expression in CRC tissues and cell lines was measured by quantitative realtime polymerase chain reaction. Cell Counting Kit-8, ethynyl deoxyuridine incorporation assay, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling staining, and nude mice xenografts assays were performed to investigate the roles of lncRNA-HEIH. RNA pull-down, RNA immunoprecipitation, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and luciferase reporter assays were performed to investigate the action mechanisms of lncRNA-HEIH. Results In this study, we found that lncRNA-HEIH is significantly increased in CRC tissues and cell lines. lncRNA-HEIH expression is positively associated with tumor size, invasion depth, and poor prognosis of CRC patients. Enhanced expression of lncRNA-HEIH promotes CRC cell proliferation and decreases apoptosis in vitro, and promotes CRC tumor growth in vivo. Whereas knockdown of lncRNA-HEIH inhibits CRC cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in vitro, and suppresses CRC tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, lncRNA-HEIH physically binds to miR-939. The interaction between lncRNA-HEIH and miR-939 damages the binding between miR-939 and nuclear factor B (NF-B), increases the binding of NF-B to Bcl-xL promoter, and promotes the transcription and expression of Bcl-xL. Moreover, Bcl-xL expression is positively associated with lncRNA-HEIH in CRC tissues. Blocking the interaction between lncRNA-HEIH and miR-939 abolishes the effects of lncRNA-HEIH on CRC tumorigenesis. Conclusion This study demonstrated that lncRNA-HEIH promotes CRC tumorigenesis through counteracting miR-939mediated transcriptional repression of Bcl-xL, and suggested that lncRNAHEIH may serve as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for CRC.

Response of Carbon and Nitrogen Metabolism and Secondary Metabolites to Drought Stress and Salt Stress in Plants

Gaochang Cui,Yu Zhang,Wenjin Zhang,Duoyong Lang,Xiaojia Zhang,Zhixian Li,Xinhui Zhang 한국식물학회 2019 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.62 No.6

Carbon and nitrogen metabolism provide the mainenergy and basic nutrients for plants. However, environmentalstress seriously affects carbon and nitrogen metabolism and thushinders plant growth, especially drought stress and salt stress. Hence, numerous studies have been conducted to investigate theresponse of carbon and nitrogen metabolism to drought stressand salt stress by photosynthesis, sucrose and starch metabolism,nitrogen uptake and amino acids. Previous researchers alsostudied the response of secondary metabolism under bothstresses on account of secondary metabolism may conferprotection against environmental stresses. Our review highlightsthe diverse responses of carbon and nitrogen metabolism todrought stress and salt stress and the content changes of threesecondary metabolites in plants under stresses.

Facile preparation of antifouling g-C3N4/Ag3PO4 nanocomposite photocatalytic polyvinylidene fluoride membranes for effective removal of rhodamine B

Yanhua Cui,Lili Yang,Minjia Meng,Qi Zhang,Binrong Li,Yilin Wu,Yunlei Zhang,Jihui Lang,Chunxiang Li 한국화학공학회 2019 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.36 No.2

A simplified strategy for facilely fabricating antifouling graphite carbon nitride/silver phosphate (g-C3N4/ Ag3PO4) nanocomposite photocatalytic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) porous membranes was developed for effective removal of rhodamine B (RhB). g-C3N4/Ag3PO4 heterojunction was strongly fixed to the interior of the PVDF membranes via phase inversion method. The membrane structure was analyzed by Fourier transform spectrophotometer (FT-IR). The morphology of the prepared membranes was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDX-mapping and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. All prepared nanocomposite photocatalytic PVDF membranes exhibited a typically porous structure, and g-C3N4/Ag3PO4 nanocomposites were well dispersed inside the membranes. The obtained g-C3N4/Ag3PO4 heterojunction nanoparticle decorated PVDF membrane had a lower water contact angle of 79o and higher porosity of 85% than that of other two control membranes. The nanocomposite photocatalytic PVDF porous membranes had extremely high permeation flux over 1,083 L·m−2·h−1, and could be used for the removal of RhB. The removal efficiency of g-C3N4/Ag3PO4-PVDF membranes towards RhB solution under visible light irradiation reached 97%, higher than that of the pure PVDF membranes (41%) and g-C3N4-PVDF membranes (85%). Remarkably, the flux performance and flux recovery ratio (FRR) of membranes revealed that the g-C3N4/Ag3PO4- PVDF membranes could recover high flux after fouling, which presented better fouling resistance. Furthermore, the fabricated antifouling g-C3N4/Ag3PO4 nanocomposite photocatalytic PVDF porous membranes exhibited excellent recyclability. Therefore, it is expected that g-C3N4/Ag3PO4-PVDF membranes could provide an energy-saving strategy for effective removal of organic dyes wastewater and have a great potential for practical wastewater treatment in the future.

Dual-channel separation system based on platanus fruit-like Ni@Ni(OH)2 hierarchical architecture for fast, efficient and continuous light/heavy oil–water separation

Atian Xie,Jiuyun Cui,Yangyang Chen,Jihui Lang,Chunxiang Li,Yongsheng Yan,Jiangdong Dai 한국공업화학회 2019 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.74 No.-

Realization of fast, efficient and continuous oil–water separation is of great significance for solving theproblem of oil pollution. We present here a facile hydrothermal strategy to synthesize a superhydrophilicplatanus fruit-like Ni@Ni(OH)2 hierarchical architecture (SI-PFHA). Additionally, superhydrophobicplatanus fruit-like Ni@Ni(OH)2 hierarchical architecture (SO-PFHA) is obtained through stearic acidmodification of SI-PFHA. Dual-channel separation system is integrated based on two superwettingmembranes. Such separation system is competent for continuous light/heavy oil–water separation withhighflux and high separation efficiency. Importantly, outstanding durability and reusability make thisseparation system a promising strategy for practical application in remediation of oily wastewater.

Interactions between Endophytes and Plants: Beneficial Effect Endophytes to Ameliorate Biotic and Abiotic Stresses in Plants

Yu Zhang,Xiaxia Yu,Wenjin Zhang,Duoyong Lang,Xiaojia Zhang,Gaochang Cui,Xinhui Zhang 한국식물학회 2019 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.62 No.1

Endophytes are typically non-pathogenic microbesthat at some period in their life cycles colonize the interiorspaces of plant tissues. There is a growing interest in the roleof the endophytes in ameliorating various stresses on plants,including biotic stress (such as pathogenic microbes) andabiotic stress (such as drought and salt stress), becauseendophytes can produce phytohormones, fixing nitrogen,antagonistic substances, enzymes, which plays an importantrole in plants respond to biotic and abiotic stress. Previouslyresearchers have reviewed endophytes promote plant growththrough direct or indirect mechanisms. In order to furtherclarify the interactions between endophytes and it’s hostplants, we reviewed the biological properties of endophytesisolated from different parts of plant, the methods of plantinoculation with endophytes and the beneficial effects ofendophytes to mitigate biotic and abiotic stress in plants.

Launch of Open-Use Operation of the East-Asian VLBI Network

Kiyoaki Wajima,Kazuhiro Hada,Taehyun Jung,Se-Jin Oh,Duk-Gyoo Roh,Wu Jiang,Lang Cui,Do-Young Byun,Jongsoo Kim,Mareki Honma,Zhi-Qiang Shen,Na Wang 한국천문학회 2018 天文學會報 Vol.43 No.1